The Seagulls fly over to Crystal Palace on Thursday, where the Eagles will be desperate to defeat one of their biggest rivals. The hosts haven’t beat Brighton at Selhurst Park since 2018, with his exact fixture last season ending 1-1.
Crystal Palace
Roy Hodgson’s side has struggled massively over the last few months, with the manager's future at the club looking short. Palace have won only one of their last ten matches, and their last win at home came on the third of September.
The Eagles are placed 15th with just 17 points after 17 matches. Their biggest issue has been the absence of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze through injury, with the duo taking on all of the creativity. This is shown by Palace netting just 17 goals all season.
However, they have kept five clean sheets this season, one more than Manchester City, whom Palace have found joy against over the years. Hodgson’s team travelled to the Etihad last weekend with very little expectation, and after 75 minutes of action, it seemed like another routine City win. But two late goals from Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Olise earned the Eagles an incredibly vital point.
Brighton
The Seagulls have been hit with what seems like a never-ending injury crisis this season, with key players such as Solly March, Pervis Estupinan, and Julio Enciso all out.
Despite this, Roberto Di Zerbi has still managed to inspire his side, full of youth, into ninth place with 26 points. However, they could be much higher up the table if they weren’t so defensively vulnerable, with the side conceding 1.76 goals per game on average and being only one of two teams to have not kept a clean sheet all season!
On the other hand, Brighton have been scoring goals for fun this season as usual, but for the first time since February, they failed to score in a Premier League game this weekend. The Seagulls travelled to Arsenal, where they suffered a deserved 2-0 defeat.
Verdict?
The Palace comeback against City will have done wonders for the confidence of the side, who have been playing with uncertainties recently. However, their home form is atrocious, winning just one of their eight matches at Selhurst Park. Brighton are also weak on the road, winning just three times in eight matches, so we should be set for a close game.
The final prediction is Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton.
